KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) officially announced the qualifiers for the 2019 Competitive Dance National Championship. The 12-team competition will get underway with preliminaries on March 8.

This year’s field includes four automatic qualifiers and nine at-large bids. The automatic qualifiers are determined by the winners of the qualifiers. At-Large positions will be awarded to the teams with the eight highest Year End Scores that did not receive an automatic bid. St. Ambrose (Iowa) qualified as both the host and Northeast Qualifier Champion, which allowed for a ninth at-large berth.

Qualifier Highlights

• Defending national champions, St. Ambrose (Iowa) will return to the 2019 championship with the host berth and as the Northeast Qualifier Champion.
• Midland (Neb.), who was the first champion, qualified as the Northwest Qualifier Champion.
• Nine of the 12 teams have qualified for all three competitive dance championships: Aquinas (Mich.), Baker (Kan.), Grand View (Iowa), Midland (Neb.), Morningside (Iowa), Oklahoma City, Siena Heights (Mich.) and St. Ambrose.
• Doane (Neb.) and Mount Mercy (Iowa) qualified for the first time.
• Loyola (La.) and Point Park (Pa.) qualified for the second time with the first time being in 2018.
• Iowa boasts the highest number of qualifiers with four.

Competition will begin on March 8 in Lee Lohman Arena on the campus of St. Ambrose University (Iowa).

Schedule of events CLICK HERE

Competitive dance All-Americans will be announced on Tuesday, February 26 at noon central time.

Source: National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics